Wilted Plants, Wilted Gardeners

 It's too darn hot and way too dry. Even this black eyed Susan is wilted in this heat. I wouldn't even consider showing you a picture of the wilted gardeners at this point.

 For days Ed has spent his morning carrying water one watering can at a time  to try to rescue the suffering. The watering has to be done on a triage basis. We have a good well and we want to keep it that way.  The plants have to deal with it. He watered the summer sweet and cardinal flower yesterday. They look better this morning, but the relief is temporary. We need rain.

I gave up spending time in the sun  and 90 degree heat several days ago. I'm a pale delicate flower  who wilts easily. I've been watching the hummingbirds flit around the trumpet vine from inside the cool house. I even got a good look at a bright blue male indigo bunting sitting on the railing outside my kitchen door. Now the heat has gotten to Ed. The garden is important to us. We love our plants, but they are expendable. Ed  is not! Perhaps the heat will break and we will get some rain. It seem surreal here in Upstate New York to think of temperatures in the eighties as cooling off.

Summer Sweet, Caged For The Winter

It's time well spent to get a bed all weeded and ready for the coming winter. This summer sweet had a difficult year. The June frost hit just when it was starting to leaf out. For a long time the plant looked dead. It recovered but,we had only one or two of the white fragrant flowers that usually cover this plant. Amy and Ed discovered summer sweet while hiking. Its fragrance is a reminder of that special day. We go all out to help this specimen any way we can. The cage will keep the deer from grazing on it this winter. The small offshoot needs protection from rabbits. The bed has been weeded and amended.

The plan is to move the daughter plant to a North facing slope. In theory the glancing contact from the low sun will warm soil there slowly. Holding the frost in the ground a little longer should delay leaf out. Extra time dormant may lessen damage from late frosts.

Treasure In the Gunks

Many of our plants have an unusual route to our garden. Clethra is one such plant. Ed and daughter Amy have hiked extensively in the Catskills and the Shawangunk Mountains. An August hike in the Gunks took them through a cloud of sweet fragrance. Most wildflowers are well past by August so the source of the sweet smell had to be found. Walking into the breeze led them to dark green bushes covered with white flowers.

Our garden specimens came from Phyllis' garden. Clethera reproduces freely by underground runners. We have had more success with these daughter plants. Rabbits find them tasty, so protection is required while the plants are small.

The period of bloom makes this plant special. Its connection to a past pleasant day makes it a treasure here!